Mother nature showed her power in Florida over the weekend with severe weather affecting the peninsula. A major thunderstorm rolled through on Sunday, wreaking havoc on homes, roads and airports. Officials at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were forced to close the airport after a lightning strike created three big holes in one of the runways.
As a result of the damage, 27 flights were diverted and dozens of flights were delayed by several hours before the runway was patched and flights could resume, a local CBS station reported. While no damage was reported at the airport, the Miami International Airport also suffered diversions and delays due to thunderstorm activity.
Florida experiences by far the most lightning strikes in the country, according to weather.com. Statistics published by weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce state that Florida receives more than 25 lightning strikes per square mile per year. That’s 1.45 million strikes each year. The temperature of lightning can reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
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